Jumpgate #8 - The War Prayer

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Jessie Earl

Ok so for my other big B5 red flag Spoiler: - - - - Anyone who makes “haha Sheridan nuked his wife so he can bed an alien” jokes can go to hell

Yes, I remember this being big enough that it made the news. Wonder Years star does guest spot on little unknown sci fi show nobody's ever heard of

Keith D. Jones

Right, I was just thinking about it this morning. G'Kar is framed as an antagonist to our main characters Sinclair/Garibaldi/Ivanova, but he's not actually a bad guy. Trying to remember what I thought way back when, I vaguely recall thinking that the show was doing a good job of not making him "bad". He was an antagonist to the main cast, but he had a clear point of view. He was a politically savvy realist. Okay [SPOILER], . . . . I watched Deathwalker this morning, and I seriously love his reaction to Na'Toth. He's proud of her and does not for a second entertain the notion of letting anything bad happen to her.

Keith D. Jones

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Jessie Earl

I DID AND OMG ITS GREAT

Jessie Earl

Never saw The Wonder Years!

Jessie Earl

I like this interpriation a lot

Jessie Earl

It's so silly haha

Jessie Earl

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Jessie Earl

Hahaha it is

Jessie Earl

go full spoilers here, but put up a spoiler tag. And yeah, G'Kar is generally reasonable, it's mostly just that he's framed by the show as the bad guy in early episodes without giving much of his perspective, and he's written to be a bit of a creeper in the pilot towards the thepath lady. But generally, G'Kar is one of my favorites cause he actually is incredibly understandable

Jessie Earl

Oh I’m not saying he doesn’t have an arc, I just don’t really see him a bad guy at the start of the show.

G'Kar does have a great character arc, though! It's just SO complicated and spoilery to get into.

Becky Sparks

I'm rewatching it (for the xth time now) and am at the beginning of season 3 and, boy, are the topics timeless. I wish they weren't.

Ulrike Bogdan

A lot was already said by other commentators. Just concerning the Dollar Store Rose: In Season 3 we get to know more about synthetic roses. They are synthetically made and the best (and most expensive of them) even with authentic smell. So the Dollar Store Rose is actually a rather pricely gift of one expensive synthetic rose. Ivanonva's reaction is correct. And the trashing of it makes even more sense since it was an expensive gift (to gloss over all other stuff).

Ulrike Bogdan

I know this is tangential and it's a Target thing but OMG Jessie, have you seen the Star Trek shirts in the Target Pride collection this year?!

Kelsey the Bean

I don’t recall it being mentioned on the pod, but Aria was played by Danica McKellar of Wonder Years fame. I’d forgotten that but recognised her immediately.

AmosRambles

Even G'Kar's behavior in the pilot movie is very anti-authoritarian, which we do not know yet because of [spoilers]

Keith D. Jones

It’s possible Londo’s behavior is consistent between Born to the Purple and War Prayer. Born to the Purple has issues. It has big, honking, problematic issues. It also shows us stuff about Centauri culture. We learn from Born to the Purple that high-ranking Centauri society and politics revolve around secrets and the avoidance of scandal. We also learn that Londo has no problem being seen in public with Adira. From this, it is possible to infer that mistresses are not a scandal for families of Londo’s rank. They are a status symbol that you flaunt to the world. In the War Prayer, Londo expects Aria and Kiron to do their duty and then carry on a long-term affair. Londo’s misunderstanding is they either do not know this or they do not care. He’s angry at them because they have placed their own personal, selfish and self-centered happiness ahead of their duties and responsibilities to their families and Centauri society at large. Londo may be thinking that placing them with his relative who will most definitely instruct them in their duties and responsibilities will finally get through their heads that they need to marry the people from the arranged marriages and then carry on a long-term affair.

Keith D. Jones

Yeah, the whole "BabCom" thing is really silly. It definitely isn't my home wifi SSID. Nope. Not at all. Who would do that?

Keith Morse

The running themes of ethnonationalism and authoritarianism are going to be a little too prescient, I worry.

Keith Morse

So, I'm trying to focus on the parts of this episode that didn't provoke my anxiety and basically its just that they called the Minbari Maya Angelou... May'an. Also, the plastic dollar rose, would you apply the same rule to a bouquet of wooden roses from Etsy? Otherwise, this was a hard one right now. I appreciate having you and Vera, but... definitely looking forward to the less timely episodes like the one where Londo cheats at poker.

S G Matthews

Vera being cartoonishly racist towards fictional aliens ("I don't trust that Mantis! All Mimbari look the same!") is becoming a running bit in the show isn't it?

Rhiannon M

With regards to G’Kar I feel like a lot of B5 fans are like “G’Kar has such a great story arc where he goes from a bad guy to a spiritually enlightened good guy” but then anytime I talk to anyone remotely involved with or aligned with anti-oppression activism is like hmm I never thought G’Kar was a bad guy I always thought he was being perfectly reasonable. It makes for a good litmus test for how much I’m gonna get along with that B5 fan lol. There’s another litmus test I have for B5 fans but that’s a spoiler so I’ll hold off for now. Also, what is your policy for spoilers in the comment section?